To Clean and Truss Poultry.
First singe, by holding the bird over a blazing paper. It is best to
do this over the open stove, when all the particles of burnt paper
will fall into the fire. Next open the vent and draw out the internal
organs, if this has not been done at the butcher's. Be careful not to
break the gall bladder. Wash quickly in one water. If there are large
black pin-feathers, take out what you can with the point of a knife,
(it is impossible to get out all). Cut the oil bag from the tail. Be
sure that you have taken out every part of the wind-pipe, the lights
and crop. Turn the skin back, and cut the neck quite short. Fill the
crop with dressing, and put some in the body also. With a short
skewer, fasten the legs together at the joint where the feet were cut
off. [Be careful, in cutting off the feet of game or poultry, to cut
in the joint. If you cut above, the ligaments that hold the flesh and
bones together will be severed, and in cooking, the meat will shrink,
leaving a bare, unsightly bone. Besides, you will have nothing to hold
the skewer, if the ligaments are cut off.] Run the skewer into the
bone of the tail, and tie firmly with a long piece of twine. Now take
a longer skewer, and run through the two wings, fastening them firmly
to the sides of the bird. With another short skewer, fasten the skin
of the neck on to the back-bone. Place the bird on its breast, and
draw the strings, with which the legs were tied, around the skewers in
the wings and neck; pass them across the back three times, and tie
very tightly. By following these directions, you will have the bird in
good shape, and all the strings on the back, so that you will avoid
breaking the handsome crust that always forms on properly basted and
roasted poultry. When cooked, first cut the strings, then draw out the
skewers. The fat that comes from the vent and the gizzard of chickens,
should be tried out immediately and put away for shortening and
frying. That of geese, turkeys and ducks is of too strong a flavor to
be nice in cookery.
To clean the giblets: Cut the gall-bag from the lobe of the liver,
cutting a little of the liver with it, so as not to cut into the bag.
Press the heart between the finger and thumb, to extract all the
blood. With a sharp knife, cut lightly around the gizzard, and draw
off the outer coat, leaving the lining coat whole. If you cannot do
that (and it does require practice), cut in two, and after removing
the filling, take out the lining. When the poultry is to be boiled,
and is stuffed, the vent must be sewed with mending cotton or soft
twine. Unless the bird is full of dressing, this will not be necessary
in roasting.
Fowl and Pork.
Clean and truss, pin in the floured cloth and put into water in which
one pound of rather lean pork has been boiling three hours. The time
of cooking depends upon the age of the fowl. If they are not more than
a year old an hour and a half will be enough, but if very old they may
need three hours. The quantity of pork given is for only a pair of
fowl, and more must be used if a large number of birds be cooked.
Serve with egg sauce. The liquor should be saved for soups.
Boiled Fowl with Macaroni.
Break twelve sticks of macaroni in pieces about two inches long; throw
them into one quart of boiling water, add a table-spoonful of salt and
half a table-spoonful of pepper. Boil rapidly for twelve minutes; then
take up, and drain off all the water. Season with one table-spoonful
of butter and one teaspoonful of salt. After the fowl have been singed
and cleaned, stuff with the macaroni. Truss them, and then pin in a
floured cloth and plunge into enough boiling water to cover them. Boil
rapidly for fifteen minutes; then set back where they will just simmer
for from one and a half to two and a half hours. The time of cooking
depends upon the age of the birds. Serve with an egg or Bechamel
sauce. The quantity of macaroni given is for two fowl. Plain boiled
macaroni should be served with this dish.
Boiled Turkey with Celery.
Chop half a head of celery very fine. Mix with it one quart of bread
crumbs, two scant table-spoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of
pepper, two heaping table-spoonfuls of butter and two eggs. Stuff the
turkey with this; sew up and truss. Wring a large square of white
cotton cloth out of cold water, and dredge it thickly with flour. Pin
the turkey in this, and plunge into boiling water. Let it boil rapidly
for fifteen minutes; then set back where it will simmer. Allow three
hours for a turkey weighing nine pounds, and twelve minutes for every
additional pound. Serve with celery sauce. The stuffing may be made
the same as above, only substitute oysters for celery, and serve with
oyster sauce.
Boiled Turkey.
Clean and truss the same as for roasting. Rub into it two spoonfuls of
salt, and put into boiling water to cover. Simmer gently three hours,
if it weighs nine or ten pounds, and is tender. If old and tough it
will take longer. Serve with oyster, celery or egg sauce. Pour some of
the sauce over the turkey, and serve the rest in a gravy boat.
Roast Turkey.
Proceed the same with a turkey as with a chicken, allowing one hour
and three-quarters for a turkey weighing eight pounds, and ten minutes
for every additional pound.
Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing and Sauce.
Clean the turkey, and lard the breast. Throw fifty large chestnuts
into boiling water for a few minutes; then take them up, and rub off
the thin, dark skin. Cover them with boiling water, and simmer for one
hour; take them up, and mash fine. Chop one pound of veal and half a
pound of salt pork very fine. Add half of the chestnuts to this, and
add, also, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two table-spoonfuls of salt
and one cupful of stock or water. Stuff the turkey with this. Truss,
and roast as already directed. Serve with a chestnut sauce. The
remaining half of the chestnuts are for this sauce.
Boned Turkey.
Get a turkey that has not been frozen (freezing makes it tear easily).
See that every part is whole; one with a little break in the skin will
not do. Cut off the legs, in the joints, and the tips of the wings. Do
not draw the bird. Place it on its breast, and with a small, sharp
boning knife, cut in a straight line through to the bone, from the
neck down to that part of the bird where there is but little flesh,
where it is all skin and fat. Begin at the neck, and run the knife
between the flesh and the bones until you come to the wing. Then cut
the ligaments that hold the bones together and the tendons that hold
the flesh to the bones. With the thumb and fore-finger, _press_
the flesh from the smooth bone. When you come to the joint, carefully
separate the ligaments and remove the bone. Do not try to take the
bone from the next joint, as that is not in the way when carving, and
it gives a more natural shape to the bird. Now begin at the wish-bone,
and when that is free from the flesh, run the knife between the sides
and the flesh, always using the fingers to press the meat from the
smooth bones, as, for instance, the breast-bone and lower part of the
sides. Work around the legs the same as you did around the wings,
always using great care at the joints not to cut the skin. Drawing out
the leg bones turns that part of the bird inside out. Turn the bird
over, and proceed in the same manner with the other side. When all is
detached, carefully draw the skin from the breast-bone; then run the
knife between the fat and bone at the rump, leaving the small bone in
the extreme end, as it holds the skewers. Carefully remove the flesh
from the skeleton, and turn it right side out again. Rub into it two
table-spoonfuls of salt and a little pepper, and fill with dressing.
Sew up the back and neck and then the vent. Truss the same as if not
boned. Take a strong piece of cotton cloth and pin the bird firmly in
it, drawing very tight at the legs, as this is the broadest place, and
the shape will not be good unless this precaution be taken. Steam
three hours, and then place on a buttered tin sheet, which put in a
baking pan. Baste well with butter, pepper, salt and flour. Roast one
hour, basting every ten minutes, and twice with stock. When cold,
remove the skewers and strings, and garnish with aspic jelly, cooked
beets and parsley. To carve: First cut off the wings, then about two
thick slices from the neck, where it will be quite fat, and then cut
in thin slices. Serve jelly with each plate.
Filling for a turkey weighing eight pounds: The flesh of one chicken
weighing four pounds, one pound of clear veal, half a pound of clear
salt pork, one small capful of cracker crumbs, two eggs, one cupful of
broth, two and a half table-spoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of
pepper, one teaspoonful of summer savory, one of sweet majoram, one of
thyme, half a spoonful of sage, and, if you like, one table-spoonful
of capers, one quart of oysters and two table-spoonfuls of onion
juice. Have the meat uncooked and free from any tough pieces. Chop
_very_ fine. Add seasoning, crackers, etc., mix thoroughly, and
use. If oysters are used, half a pound of the veal must be omitted.
Where one cannot eat veal, use chicken instead. Veal is recommended
for its cheapness. Why people choose boned turkey instead of a plain
roast turkey or chicken, is not plain, for the flavor is not so good;
but at the times and places where boned birds are used, it is a very
appropriate dish. That is, at suppers, lunches and parties, where the
guests are served standing, it is impracticable to provide anything
that cannot be broken with a fork or spoon; therefore, the advantage
of a boned turkey, chicken, or bird, is apparent. One turkey weighing
eight pounds before being boned, will serve thirty persons at a party,
if there are, also, say oysters, rolls, coffee, ices, cake and cream.
If the supper is very elaborate the turkey will answer for one of the
dishes for a hundred or more persons. If nothing more were gained in
the boning of a bird, the knowledge of the anatomy and the help this
will give in carving, pay to bone two or three chickens. It is
advisable to bone at least two fowls before trying a turkey, for if
you spoil them there is nothing lost, as they make a stew or soup.
Aspic jelly: One and a half pints of clear stock--beef if for amber
jelly, and chicken or veal if for white; half a box of gelatine, the
white of one egg, half a cupful of cold water, two cloves, one large
slice of onion, twelve pepper-corns, one stalk of celery, salt. Soak
gelatine two hours in the cold water. Then put on with other
ingredients, the white of the egg being beaten with one spoonful of
the cold stock. Let come to a boil, and set back where it will just
simmer for twenty minutes. Strain through a napkin, turn into a mould
or shallow dish, and put away to harden. The jelly can be made with
the bones of the turkey and chicken, by washing them, covering with
cold water and boiling down to about three pints; by then straining
and setting away to cool, and in the morning skimming off all the fat
and turning off the clear stock. The bones may, instead, be used for a
soup.
Roast Goose.
Stuff the goose with a potato dressing made in the following manner:
Six potatoes, boiled, pared and mashed fine and light; one table-
spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one spoonful of sage, two
table-spoonfuls of onion juice, two of butter. Truss, and dredge well
with salt, pepper and flour. Roast before the fire (if weighing eight
pounds) one hour and a half; in the oven, one hour and a quarter. Make
gravy the same as for turkey. No butter is required for goose, it is
so fat. Serve with apple sauce. Many people boil the goose half an
hour before roasting, to take away the strong flavor. Why not have
something else if you do not like the real flavor of the goose?
Roast Duck.
Ducks, to be good, must be cooked rare: for this reason it is best not
to stuff. If, however, you do stuff them, use the goose dressing, and
have it very hot. The better way is to cut an onion in two, and put
into the body of the bird; then truss, and dredge with salt, pepper
and flour, and roast, if before the fire, forty minutes, and if in the
oven, thirty minutes. The fire must be very hot if the duck be roasted
in the kitchen, and if in the oven, this must be a quick one. Serve
with currant jelly and a sauce made the same as for turkey.
Roast Chicken.
Clean the chicken, and stuff the breast and part of the body with
dressing made as follows: For a pair of chickens weighing between
seven and eight pounds, take one quart of stale bread (being sure not
to have any hard pieces), and break up in very fine crumbs. Add a
table-spoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of pepper, a teaspoonful
of chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of powdered sage, one of summer
savory and a scant half cupful of butter. Mix well together. This
gives a rich dressing that will separate like rice when served. Now
truss the chickens, and dredge well with salt. Take soft butter in the
hand, and rub thickly over the chicken; then dredge rather thickly
with flour. Place on the side, on the meat rack, and put into a hot
oven for a few moments, that the flour in the bottom of the pan may
brown. When it is browned, put in water enough to cover the pan. Baste
every fifteen minutes with the gravy in the pan, and dredge with salt,
pepper and flour. When one side is browned, turn, and brown the other.
The last position in which the chicken should bake is on its back,
that the breast may be nicely frothed and browned. The last basting is
on the breast, and should be done with soft butter, and the breast
should be dredged with flour. Putting the butter on the chicken at
first, and then covering with flour, makes a paste, which keeps the
juices in the chicken, and also supplies a certain amount of rich
basting that is absorbed into the meat. It really does not take as
much butter to baste poultry or game in this manner as by the old
method of putting it on with a spoon after the bird began to cook. The
water in the pan must often be renewed; and always be careful not to
get in too much at a time. It will take an hour and a quarter to cook
a pair of chickens, each weighing between three and a half and four
pounds; anything larger, an hour and a half. A sure sign that they are
done is the readiness of joints to separate from the body. If the
chickens are roasted in the tin-kitchen, before the fire, it will take
a quarter of an hour longer than in the oven.
Gravy for chickens: Wash the hearts, livers, gizzards and necks and
put on to boil in three pints of water; boil down to one pint. Take
them all up. Put the liver on a plate, and mash fine with the back of
the spoon; return it to the water in which it was boiled. Mix two
table-spoonfuls of flour with half a cupful of cold water. Stir into
the gravy, season well with salt and pepper, and set back where it
will simmer, for twenty minutes. Take up the chickens, and take the
meat rack out of the pan. Then tip the pan to one side, to bring all
the gravy together. Skim off the fat. Place the pan on top of the
stove and turn into it one cupful of water. Let this boil up, in the
meantime scraping everything from the sides and bottom of the pan.
Turn this into the made gravy, and let it all boil together while you
are removing the skewers and strings from the chickens.
Chicken à la Matelote.
Cut up an uncooked chicken. Rub in butter and flour, and brown in an
oven. Fry in four table-spoonfuls of chicken fat or butter, for about
twenty minutes, a small carrot, onion and parsnip, all cut into dice.
When the chicken is browned, put it in a stew-pan with the cooked
vegetables and one quart of white stock. Then into the fat in which
the vegetables were fried, put two table-spoonfuls of flour, and cook
until brown. Stir this in with the chicken. Add the liver, mashed
fine, one table-spoonful of capers and salt and pepper to taste. Cook
very gently three-quarters of an hour; then add one-fourth of a pound
of mushrooms, cut in small pieces. Cook fifteen minutes longer. Serve
with a border of boiled macaroni, mashed potatoes or rice.
Chicken à la Reine.
Clean, stuff and truss a pair of chickens, as for roasting. Dredge
well with salt, pepper and flour. Cut a quarter of a pound of pork in
slices, and put part on the bottom of a deep stew-pan with two slices
of carrot and one large onion, cut fine. Stir over the fire until they
begin to color; then put in the chickens, and lay the remainder of the
pork over them. Place the stew-pan in a hot oven for twenty minutes;
then add white stock to half cover the chicken (about two quarts), and
a bouquet of sweet herbs. Dredge well with flour. Cover the pan and
return to the oven. Baste about every fifteen minutes, and after
cooking one hour, turn over the chickens. Cook, in all, two hours.
Serve with Hollandaise sauce or with the sauce in which the chickens
were cooked, it being strained over them.
Chicken à la Tartare.
Singe the chicken, and split down the back. Wipe thoroughly with a
damp cloth. Dredge well with salt and pepper, cover thickly with
softened butter, and dredge thickly on both sides with fine, dry bread
crumbs. Place in a baking pan, the inside down, and cook in a very hot
oven thirty minutes, taking care not to bum. Serve with Tartare sauce.
Broiled Chicken.
Singe the chicken, and split down the back, if not already prepared;
and wipe with a damp cloth. Never wash it. Season well with salt and
pepper. Take some soft butter in the right hand and rub over the bird,
letting the greater part go on the breast and legs. Dredge with flour.
Put in the double broiler, and broil over a moderate fire, having the
breast turned to the heat at first. When the chicken is a nice brown,
which will be in about fifteen minutes, place in a pan and put into a
moderate oven for twelve minutes. Place on a hot dish, season, with
salt, pepper and butter, and serve immediately. This rule is for a
chicken weighing about two and a half pounds. The chicken is improved
by serving with _maître d' hôtel_ butter or Tartare sauce.
Chicken Stew with Dumplings.
One chicken or fowl, weighing about three pounds; one table-spoonful
of butter, three of flour, one large onion, three slices of carrot,
three of turnip, three pints of boiling water and salt and pepper. Cut
the chicken in slices suitable for serving. Wash, and put in a deep
stew-pan, add the water, and set on to boil. Put the carrot, turnip
and onion, cut fine, in a sauce-pan, with the butter, and cook slowly
half an hour, stirring often; then take up the vegetables in a
strainer, place the strainer in the stew-pan with the chicken, and dip
some of the water into it. Mash the vegetables with the back of a
spoon, and rub as much as possible through the strainer. Now skim two
spoonfuls of chicken fat from the water, and put in the pan in which
the vegetables were cooked. When boiling hot, add the three table-
spoonfuls of flour. Stir over the fire until a dark brown; then stir
it in with the chicken, and simmer until tender. Season well with
pepper and salt. The stew should only simmer all the while it is
cooking. It must not boil hard. About two hours will be needed to cook
a year old chicken. Twelve minutes before serving draw the stew-pan
forward, and boil up; then put in the dumplings, and cook _ten_
minutes. Take them up, and keep in the heater while you are dishing
the chicken into the centre of the platter. Afterwards, place the
dumplings around the edge. This is a very nice and economical dish, if
pains are taken in preparing. One stewed chicken will go farther than
two roasted.
Larded Grouse.
Clean and wash the grouse. Lard the breast and legs. Run a small
skewer into the legs and through the tail. Tie firmly with twine.
Dredge with salt, and rub the breast with soft butter; then dredge
thickly with flour. Put into a quick oven. If to be very rare, cook
twenty minutes; if wished better done, thirty minutes. The former
time, as a general thing, suits gentlemen better, but thirty minutes
is preferred by ladies. If the birds are cooked in a tin-kitchen, it
should be for thirty or thirty-five minutes. When done, place on a hot
dish, on which has been spread bread sauce. Sprinkle fried crumbs over
both grouse and sauce. Garnish with parsley. The grouse may, instead,
be served on a hot dish, with the parsley garnish, and the sauce and
crumbs served in separate dishes. The first method is the better,
however, as you get in the sauce all the gravy that comes from the
birds.
Larded Partridges.
Partridges are cooked and served the same as grouse.
Larded Quail.
The directions for cooking and serving are the same as those for
grouse, only that quails cook in fifteen minutes. All dry-meated birds
are cooked in this way. The question is sometimes asked, Should ducks
be larded? Larding is to give richness to a dry meat that does not
have fat enough of its own; therefore, meats like goose, duck and
mutton are _not_ improved by larding.
Broiled Quail.
Split the quail down the back. Wipe with a damp towel. Season with
salt and pepper, rub thickly with soft butter, and dredge with flour.
Broil ten minutes over clear coals. Serve on hot buttered toast,
garnishing with parsley.
Broiled Pigeons.
Prepare, cook and serve the same as quail They should be young for
broiling, squabs being the best.
Broiled Small Birds.
All small birds can be broiled according to the directions for quail,
remembering that for extremely small ones it takes a very bright fire.
As the birds should be only browned, the time required is very brief.
Small Birds, Roasted.
Clean, by washing quickly in one water after they have been drawn.
Season with salt and pepper. Cut slices of salt pork _very thin_,
and with small skewers, fasten a slice around each bird. Run a long
skewer through the necks of six or eight, and rest it on a shallow
baking-pan. When all the birds are arranged, put into a _hot_
oven for twelve minutes, or before a hot fire for a quarter of an
hour. Serve on toast.
Potted Pigeons.
Clean and wash one dozen pigeons. Stand them on their necks in a deep
earthen or porcelain pot, and turn on them a pint of vinegar. Cut
three large onions in twelve pieces, and place a piece on each pigeon.
Cover the pot, and let it stand all night In the morning take out the
pigeons, and throw away the onions and vinegar. Fry, in a deep stew-
pan, six slices of fat pork, and when browned, take them up, and in
the fat put six onions, sliced fine. On these put the pigeons, having
first trussed them, and dredge well with salt pepper and flour. Cover,
and cook slowly for forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally; then
add two quarts of boiling water, and simmer gently two hours. Mix four
heaping table-spoonfuls of flour with a cupful of cold water, and stir
in with the pigeons. Taste to see if there is enough seasoning, and if
there is not, add more. Cook half an hour longer. Serve with a garnish
of rice or riced potatoes. More or less onion can be used; and, if you
like it so, spice the gravy slightly.
Pigeons in Jelly.
Wash and truss one dozen pigeons. Put them in a kettle with four
pounds of the shank of veal, six cloves, twenty-five pepper-corns, an
onion that has been fried in one spoonful of butter, one stalk of
celery, a bouquet of sweet herbs and four and a half quarts of water.
Have the veal shank broken in small pieces. As soon as the contents of
the kettle come to a boil, skim carefully, and set for three hours
where they will just simmer. After they have been cooking one hour,
add two table-spoonfuls of salt. When the pigeons are done, take them
up, being careful not to break them, and remove the strings. Draw the
kettle forward, where it will boil rapidly, and keep there for forty
minutes; then strain the liquor through a napkin, and taste to see if
seasoned enough. The water should have boiled down to two and a half
quarts. Have two moulds that will each hold six pigeons. Put a thin
layer of the jelly in these, and set on ice to harden. When hard,
arrange the pigeons in them, and cover with the jelly, which must be
cold, but liquid. Place in the ice chest for six or, better still,
twelve hours. There should be only one layer of the pigeons in the
mould.
To serve: Dip the mould in a basin of warm water for one minute, and
turn on a cold dish. Garnish with pickled beets and parsley. A Tartare
sauce can be served with this dish.
If squabs are used, two hours will cook them. All small birds, as well
as partridge, grouse, etc., can be prepared in the same manner.
Remember that the birds must be cooked tender, and that the liquor
must be so reduced that it will become jellied.
Roast Rabbit.
First make a stuffing of a pound of veal and a quarter of a pound of
pork, simmered two hours in water to cover; four crackers, rolled
fine; a table-spoonful of salt, a scant teaspoonful of pepper, a
teaspoonful of summer savory, a large table-spoonful of butter and one
and a quarter cupfuls of the broth in which the veal and pork were
cooked. Chop the meat fine, add the other ingredients, and put on the
fire to heat. Cut off the rabbit's head, open the vent, and draw. Wash
clean, and season with salt and pepper. Stuff while the dressing is
hot, and sew up the opening. Put the rabbit on its knees, and skewer
in that position. Rub thickly with butter, dredge with flour, and put
in the baking pan, the bottom of which should be covered with hot
water. Bake half an hour in a quick oven, basting frequently. Serve
with a border of mashed potatoes, and pour the gravy over the rabbit.
Curry of Rabbit.
Cut the rabbit in small pieces. Wash, and cook the same as chicken
curry.
Saddle of Venison.
Carefully scrape off the hair, and wipe with a damp towel; Season well
with salt and pepper, and roll up and skewer together. Rub thickly
with soft butter and dredge thickly with flour. Roast for an hour
before a clear fire or in a _hot_ oven, basting frequently. When
half done, if you choose, baste with a few spoonfuls of claret. Or,
you can have one row of larding on each side of the back-bone. This
gives a particularly nice flavor.
To make the gravy: Pour off all the fat from the baking pan, and put
in the pan a cupful of boiling water. Stir from the sides and bottom,
and set back where it will keep hot. In a small frying-pan put one
table-spoonful of butter, a small slice of onion, six pepper-corns and
four whole cloves. Cook until the onion is browned, and then add a
generous teaspoonful of flour. Stir until this is browned; then,
gradually, add the gravy in the pan. Boil one minute. Strain, and add
half a teaspoonful of lemon juice and three table-spoonfuls of currant
jelly. Serve both venison and gravy very hot. The time given is for a
saddle weighing between ten and twelve pounds. All the dishes and
plates for serving must be hot. Venison is cooked in almost the same
manner as beef, always remembering that it must be served _rare_
and _hot_.
Roast Leg of Venison.
Draw the dry skin from the meat, and wipe with a damp towel. Make a
paste with one quart of flour and a generous pint of cold water. Cover
the venison with this, and place before a hot fire, if to be roasted
in the tin kitchen, or else in a very hot oven. As the paste browns,
baste it frequently with the gravy in the pan. When it has been
cooking one hour and a half, take off the paste, cover with butter,
and dredge thickly with flour. Cook one hour longer, basting
frequently with butter, salt and flour. Make the gravy the same as for
a saddle of venison, or serve with game sauce. The time given is for a
leg weighing about fifteen pounds.